Clinton, SC (TLS). Allenna Williams Ward appeared in court today to be arraigned on five counts of criminal sexual conduct on a minor and six counts of performing lewd acts on a minor.
Ward is the former Bell Street Middle School teacher who was fired from her job after being accused by five teenagers, ages 14-15, for engaging in sex with them at various public places around town.
Upon the counsel of her attorney, Ward has not spoken to the media about the case.
In court today, however, we heard directly from Ward for the very first time. When read the charges against her and asked, 'How do you plea?' Ward stated simply, 'Not guilty.'
Ward will remain under house arrest pending her trial. No trial date has been set as of yet.
Monday, April 02, 2007
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28 comments:
Interesting comment from Jerry Peace in the Greenville News:
“We’ll review the case. We’ll get with her attorneys and try to get it resolved,” Peace said. “If we can’t get it resolved, then a year, year and a half from now we’ll try it.”
http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/20070402/NEWS01/70402007
If Peace is talking about a plea deal now, he can't have a strong case. Nor do I think Ms. Ward's lawyer is terribly confident about what will happen in front of a jury. Juries can be unpredictable.
I think Peace will offer Ms. Ward a plea deal she can't refuse and her lawyer will advise her to take it.
If the case goes to trial, she will have already gotten a year or more under house arrest. She may get less from a plea deal than from a "not guilty" verdict.
The pundits will chatter, the community may be shocked, some will see it as proof of racism, but that's how the system works. An imperfect verdict from an imperfect justice system.
You can read more of my comments at the Greenville News website.
Why was Allena Ward fired from her job? I realize she can't be allowed to actually teach until the accusations are proven to be false. But shouldn't she have been put on a paid leave of absence until it is proven whether or not she is guilty? Why did they fire her at the drop of a hat not knowing whether she is guilty or not? And how could she possibly take a plea deal if she is innocent? I know that if I had been accused of something like this and knew that I was innocent I would fight to prove my innocence till my dying breath! If she takes a plea deal as far as I am concerned she will have tacitly admitted to her guilt.
Working out a plea deal with a state's attorney is often nothing more than weighing one's options in light of facing a jury that may be tainted/hostile/already convinced of one's guilty before any evidence is presented.
Being fired from a school is no proof of guilt as well. The nature of these charges were such that the school board wanted no hint of impropriety...plus, the parents in the African American community were demanding action as soon as the charges came to light.
They were railroaded into firing her, just as the state's attorney was railroaded into bringing charges on nothing more than the word of a few teenagers.
In addition, Ward as of yet has accepted no plea arrangement. This is speculation thus far.
I'm curious about this case. It's so strange, and it doesn't make sense. Generally, a female predator will latch onto 1 kid, and maybe fall in love, such as the MaryKay LaTourneau case in Seattle or Pamela Smart in New England. But for 1 woman to "do" 5 kids is a little hard to believe. If it were "just" one, I'd be more likely to believe it. I don't have the evidence and I don't know anyone involved in this case. But I wonder about the circumstances. It's just too strange for me to buy on face value.
I stopped buying it from about the third day after the story broke, theres too much that smells fishy
Does anyone here think it's possible that she was blackmaled into hooking up with these 5 guys? For instance, maybe she was having an affair, and the guy threatened to blow the lid off of it if she didn't hook up with his buddies?...
I'm not saying that happened. I'm just trying to figure out why this young married woman would go nuts and hook up with 5 teenage boys (regardless of their race).
I think the theory is a long-shot. Possible, perhaps, but not likely.
Besides, it is not an established fact that she did it. We keep forgetting that, as many did in the Duke lacrosse rape hoax.
Persons in this country are presumed innocent until the evidence proves them guilty in a court of law. Until that time, to assume she is guilty now would get that backwards.
We are quickly reaching the stage in this country where accused persons are presumed guilty until they prove their innocence. This is a dangerous and deadly slippery slope.
Martyn
The "blackmail" theory still has many of the same problems as the other theories, the biggest being that nobody saw or heard anything about it until the scandal broke. There is still the problem of the apparent lack of evidence that any sexual contact took place.
I think the boys are making this up. It could be for any reason or for no reason. I think the parents want to sue the school, and their lawyer is an ambitious state legislator. I think the solicitor is inclined to believe the worst, although he seems to be changing his tone with the latest comments.
I think Ms. Ward was young and careless and she put herself into certain situations where a student could make allegations about her and she would have a difficult time defending herself. I do not know the content of the infamous notes, but I suspect that the students wrote her something and she did not handle it in a proper manner. She is probably guilty of bad judgment, but not of a crime.
In reports I've seen it is said that the police looked at the evidence and decided to arrest her. What evidence did they look at. What evidence did school authorities look at. What was so damaging to Allena Ward that these authorities decided she must be fired
AND arrested. Was it just the note(s) they found? Was the stories the five boys told that convincing to the police? It seems the stories from the boys must have been very convincing given the fact that it should have been very easy for the police to detect inconsistencies in five different stories from 14-15 year old boys and thus conclude that the boys were making all this up.
Not necessarily. As you well know, in cases involving minors the police normally accept the word of said minors when the allegations involve sexual misconduct.
For example, in allegations of child abuse, all it takes is an anonymous tip for the case workers from Social Services to invade the home, take the children to a doctor for examination, and in some cases remove the children from the home pending an investigation.
Unfortunately, in America today, the only thing it takes for a person's reputation and career to be ruined is for a teenager to cry 'rape' or 'sexual misconduct.'
This is the single crime for which a person must prove their innocence. Society presumes such accused persons to be guilty, and thus the burden of proof is not on the state to prove guilt, but upon the individual to prove innocence.
This is exactly backwards from the way the crinimal justice system is supposed to work in this country.
Martyn
At some point, if the 5 kids made this up, the police will probably pick them apart. I'd give this time. The truth will slowly come out, wherever that leads.
True.
On a related note, Prosecuting Attorney Jerry Peace has already hinted that he may be open to a plea bargain, which suggests he doesn't have complete confidence in the strength of his case, especially in light of the nature of the allegations.
These allegations are quite serious and frankly they would indicate a hardened sexual predator/offender, if true. If Peace thought he had a strong case against Ms. Ward, I don't believe he would be willing to plead it out.
This is even more reason to doubt the validity of the claims of the teenagers.
Martyn
Martyn
Is there anything new on this case? It seems very quiet. What will be the next step?
Nothing new, at least not publicly. The last thing Jerry Peace said was, 'We are reviewing the case to see if we can get it resolved. If we can't get it resolved we will see if we can try it in about a year and a half.'
A very intriguing comment, if you ask me.
Martyn
I do not think that you have all of your fact correct. The school has every right to fire teachers that do not follow school board policies. Mrs. Ward admitted to the school officals about writing the note to the student. The school conducted an investigation after Mrs.Ward admitted to writing the first note. The school acting in the correct manner to fire the teacher. The firing of the teacher has nothing to do with the teacher being charged.
A very good observation, which brings up an interesting point of clarification: the firing of Allenna Williams Ward is not connected to the criminal charges she faces...they are two separate issues.
And this would seem to bolster the original point that the note Ward sent to the student was a disciplinary matter and not sexual.
Perhaps this explains the words used by school officials to describe the note, 'severe' being one of them. This would also explain why such a matter is not being discussed publicly, since disciplinary matters involving minors in schools is an issue of confidentiality.
Martyn
What does it take in the way of a note to get a teacher fired? It surprises me that she was fired over a note, if that's the case, unless she wrote something obscene. Or am I missing something?
I honestly don't believe the charges. It seems too 'out there' for a married woman to sleep with 5 teenage boys. I've never heard of something like that.
At the same time, I wonder what kind of thing she wrote to get fired.
It wouldn't necessarily have to be obscene to get her fired. Here we are speaking entirely hypothetically, since I have no idea what was in that note.
But, it could have contained a description of severe consequences, if, for example, Ward was the victim of obscene and lewd messages directed at her by the students. In her anger should could have stated something like, 'If you don't shut that stuff up, I am going to ring your everloving neck,' or something like that.
In today's climate in public schools, any hint of anything physical with regard to punishment, particularly if it were severe and written in anger and exasperation, would be enough to get a teacher fired.
Just an opinion for what it's worth...
Martyn
And I wonder what the 5 accusers are up to. Are they still in school? How has their lives changed? Are they the
big shots on campus now with the other boys their age because they
got (supposedly) an attractive teacher (and white on top of that) to have sex with them?
Officially, there is no way of knowing, since these are minors. We would be prevented from publishing names or commenting about them in such as manner as to indicate their identity.
But then, as you well know, there is talk around and about. It's difficult to know what is true and what is rumor, however. So, I won't go there.
Martyn
Well, it is very, very quiet. I have to hand it to Allenna Ward's attorney. He has managed to keep this case away from the eye of the national media. CNN said a little about the bail and the racial overtones of it. One would think that the racial aspect of this alleged crime would get national media attention. I hope Mrs. Ward does not take a plea deal. I hope it goes to trial in a different venue and the facts come out in this very intriguing case. I wonder if anyone has heard anything at all
about what may be going on behind the scenes on either side.
I have a feeling we won't hear much about this for a while. If there is a trial (big "if", in my opinion), it probably won't be until sometime in 2008. It sounds like the prosecutor might pursue a plea deal, based on his statements. As Martin said, that makes it seem like he doesn't have much of a case.
Ward pleaded not guilty. If she really isn't guilty, I hope she doesn't cop a plea and takes this to a trial if needed to clear her name. If she's not guilty, then her life will have been wrecked because some kids tried to "stick it to her" out of some bad blood or a grudge.
If she's not guilty, I hope these kids face some kind of penalty for what they've done.
If she is guilty, then she should be put away a long time. If she is guilty, then she deserves a stiff sentence. I must admit, the charges against her are hard to believe (and honestly, I don't believe them), but in this day and age, anything is possible.
We all need to remember the presumption of innocence in criminal trials. The Nifong debacle drove that home to me.
LOL! You guys are as struck by this case as I am. There is just something about this story that isn't right...I have this nagging doubt that keeps me digging around.
For one thing, I concluded early-on that the charges against Ward are bogus. I don't believe she did it. Yet there is something here beneath the surface that is brewing--something that is not yet clear to me.
Part of this is due to the excellent job Ward's lawyer has done in keeping his client's case under wraps. She has not spoken a word to the Press, and only two words to the Court...'Not Guilty.'
Her attorney has not spoken to the Media at all.
Obviously, he is determined not to let this play out in public, which is a VERY smart move, given the 3-ring circus and debacle in Durham with Nifong.
His silence really indicates nothing in terms of her guilt or innocence. If she is innocent, then the less he and his client speak before the Court date, the better off they will be when the case is presented. If she is guilty, here again, she is much better off by saying absolutely nothing, given that the pot-bangers went public very quickly to denounce her...before anything has been proved in court.
As for Jerry Peace, I don't think he has a strong case at all, or else this thing would be on the fast track, given the gravity of the charges. But his words are very intriguing...'We want to do the right thing. We will get with her attorney to see if this can be worked out. If not, we may try it in a year and a half.'
These are NOT the words of a man who is convinced of Ward's guilt! If Jerry Peace actually thought Ward was guilty of the heinous deeds of which she has been accused, then you can be assured his rhetoric would take on a much different tone.
Martyn
Still not a peep out of anyone about this case. No media coverage either. Interesting.
It amazes me, too, that the media isn't staying on this case. The race aspect would be enough to keep the media all over it--one would think. One does have to wonder.
BIG news today, everyone! Ward changed her plea to guilty. She accepted a plea bargain offered by Jerry Peace, which called for her to plead guilty to 5 counts of sexual misconduct in exchange for Peace dropping all other charges.
She broke down in the courtroom as she admitted to her guilt and apologized for it all.
Wow, what a story. This means that all of our assumptions about profiling the typical sexual predator are now out the window. It's back to the drawing board, for Ward did not fit ANY of the characteristics of a typical sexual predator.
Yet there she was in court today, admitting, essentially, that what the teenagers alleged was true.
This leaves me very sad for the boys and their families. Those boys have been tainted for life.
Just to let everyone know, she never plead not guilty. That was a mistake by the media.
Nope. This was no mistake of the media. At the arraignment hearing she had to enter a plea. And she pleaded not guilty. It was later, months later, that she changed her plea to guilty in a plea bargain arrangement.
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